Digest: Strippers win ruling on back pay

NEW YORK - Dancers at a strip club are due more than $10 million in back wages and tips, a federal judge ruled Friday after the dancers sued to be paid at least a minimum wage.

And additional claims are headed for trial in the class-action case, meaning there ultimately could be further awards to roughly 1,900 women who worked at Rick's Cabaret in Manhattan between 2005 and 2012.

"We are very happy with the court's ruling," said the dancers' lawyer, E. Michelle Drake.

The club's owner, Houston-based RCI Hospitality Holdings, said it planned to appeal and continue "vigorously defending the allegations."

The dancers got no steady wages, instead paying a fee to the club to perform there and in return getting paid by customers. The customers put up $20 for each personal dance and fees starting at $100 for 15 minutes of entertainment in semiprivate rooms. But after paying club fees, dancers sometimes ended up in the red, Drake said.

LNG export facility clears last hurdles

Two regulatory agencies have removed the final barriers that prevented Freeport LNG from beginning construction on its natural gas export project in Quintana.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Energy granted final authorization for the project to export domestically produced liquefied natural gas to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the United States. The day before, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission denied the Sierra Club's request for a rehearing of its objections to the project.

Hasbro ends talks to acquire DreamWorks

Hasbro's talks to acquire DreamWorks Animation SKG, the studio that produced the "Shrek" films, have ended without agreement, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

The discussions never advanced beyond a preliminary stage and a first meeting, said the person, who sought anonymity because the matter is private. DreamWorks had been seeking a sale price of at least $30 a share.